Having moved to the Olympic Stadium from their traditional home at the Boleyn Ground, much was expected on them to build on their impressive showing last term.

However, it's not quite worked out that way for them so far, and the side currently sit just a point above the drop zone as the busy festive season fast approaches.

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And their misery was compounded this weekend with a crushing 5-1 defeat – at home – to Arsenal.

The night belonged to Chilean playmaker Alexis Sanchez, who bagged a late hat-trick to see the Gunners over the line and ensure that they returned to north London with all three points to keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea.

During the game, having gone 2-0 down with under 20 minutes to go, Hammers boss Slaven Bilic did what a lot of managers would do by throwing on a big man up front to lead the line and try to salvage something from the contest.

And while Carroll did manage to get himself on the scoresheet with just seven minutes left, his overall impact summed up perfectly just how bad West Ham were all afternoon.

As shown by Squawka, the England international completed just three passes while on the pitch, and to make matters worse they all came from kick offs after the Hammers had conceded.

Carroll also attempted one more pass, but it failed to meet its target.

Granted, he was brought on to cause havoc in the box and reach those crosses provided by the wide men, but it shows just how poor the side were in possession as the game wore on.

Unbeaten on the road

For Arsenal, though, the victory meant that Arsene Wenger extended Arsenal's unbeaten record away from home to 13 games in the league, with the last defeat coming in February.

The win closed the gap on leaders Chelsea, who won their game against fellow title contenders Manchester City earlier in the day, to just three points.

However, if Liverpool can beat Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon they will leapfrog Arsenal and will set up a tasty title race ahead of the Christmas period.

West Ham take on Liverpool next, and given their current form they will undoubtedly be looking over their shoulder.

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